


The Wildling King

by sam_midwinter



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Frerin Lives, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-03-31 12:10:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3977503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam_midwinter/pseuds/sam_midwinter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fili does his best to restore Erebor, with Thorin still in recovery after the battle he finds himself loaded with a heavy responsibility. His family helps, and he has grown to see it as preparation for when the time comes when he does become King. But ruling isn't easy, especially not when dwarven children are brought in, screaming of how their King will come and trample down their gates and everything in their way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

\- - * - - 

 

Fili was sure now, that what he had imagined leading the mountain would have been like was completely wrong. He had thought that most of the time, everything just slid together and formed a complete, beautiful picture. But that had very quickly been proven not to be the case.

Though matters could be worse, he supposed. While Fili did most of the work himself to restore the mountain to it’s former glory, making sure that all the daily arriving dwarves got settled and get the mines working again it could still be worse. At least he could still ask Thorin when he was stuck in a rut and didn’t know what to do. When Thorin wasn’t around to ask, he could always ask his mother or Kili. When they weren’t around there was always Balin to ask.

One thing was for sure in these uncertain times and it was one thing he had come to rely on. His mother always knew what to say or what to do.

Thorin tried his best to be around as much as he could. But his injuries didn’t allow him to remain on standing foot for very long. Though Fili was pleased to see that his uncle was healing at an increasingly more rapid speed. At least when it came to his physical injuries, what was left in his mind was something entirely different. There were still more traces of gold sickness left then Fili liked to admit. But Thorin was struggling through it, and Fili had no doubt that his uncle would become the dwarf he once used to be, given enough time.

And up until that time, it fell to Fili’s shoulders to ensure that Erebor worked as a mountain and the dwarves living in its halls lived together, just until Thorin could take back his crown.

It felt bizarre to look back at the battle that had taken place a few weeks back and know it was only that recent. While he had fought in it, it now felt as if it was nothing more then a bad dream. It was hard to think back of it as something that had actually happened. He supposed that his father and Thorin had always been right when it came to that after all.

But it had happened, and the best thing to do was to take every day as it came until eventually he felt calmer about it. With the increasing amount of dwarves travelling back to Erebor, the army that Dain left behind for their safety, reopening of the mines and finding jobs for everyone, Fili often found that he felt overwhelmed with the chores what to do but it kept him distracted enough off the past. He had to find homes for everyone, jobs for everyone and he had to ease quarrels, he had to keep requests in mind and be considerate, and on other parts he had to be harsh, which had come to be the hardest thing to come to terms with.

Kili did his best to help out, but Fili felt bad whenever he didn’t have any answers for his brother’s questions. And then he felt even worse when he remembered how long it had been since they had just had a calm moment where it just had been the two of them. It had been far to long since they had been brothers and he felt that he was the blame for that. It was a change he wasn’t quite sure he was happy with. And to make it worse, one day he would be king and it would be their reality.

But it made Fili happy to see that his brother had found his own place amongst the group of scouts and guards who kept their lands outside the mountain safe. It gave his brother something to do that he enjoyed, and so far Kili had yet to return home in the evening with a frown on his face. And that was enough for Fili to feel brighter about his own job and manage to carry it on the following morning. As long as Kili was happy Fili would live through whatever life handed him.

With the start of a minor headache coming on which had become quite the annoying tradition, Fili made his way up towards Thorin’s halls. It had been a long day, but Fili was glad that things always had a tendency to calm down in the late afternoon. It was then when Balin slowly started to disappear for the evening, when the dwarves in the mountain slowly went back to their own homes to be with their family. Everything and everyone was slowly preparing for the end of the day, so it gave Fili a chance to breathe and relax.

By the time he had reached the door leading to Thorin’s chambers, all of the guards who had followed him around had disappeared. And even the guards sat in front of Thorin’s chamber looked bored and tired, having resorted to a conversation with one another about who was waiting for them at their homes (for one it was a wife and two children, the other just had a dog waiting for him and claimed it was more then enough). A big yawn escaped the lips of one of them as Fili knocked on the door and entered.

When the heavy doors fell shut, he could hear the voices of Thorin and his mother. But they were light, which instantly settled any worry that it might have been an argument or a heavy discussion. Thorin still spoke ill from time to time, although he did not mean it. It seemed that today was a good day for his uncle, with hardly any gold lingering in his mind.

Thorin was sat by the table, slouched a bit together and was untangling braids from his hair. Dis was wandering around the table, holding papers and books in her arms and was going on about the findings in some of the empty homes. Just as Fili was responsible for ruling Erebor until Thorin could sit on the throne, Kili being part of the hunters and scouts and Balin was an advisor and Thorin on bed rest, his mother as well had a job.

She and another group of dwarves went through all the uninhabited homes and cleaned them up, got rid of everything that wasn’t useful and rearranged what was useful. She had always been a scavenger and a treasure hunter, and she to enjoyed the task she had been given.

Everything that was found, his father documented and kept it under safe supervision in the library. Anor seemed to enjoy his job less but had over the years come to accept that he didn’t have much of a choice in those matters any longer, having lost his leg so many years ago he couldn’t just go up and about and do a lot of wandering in one day. His fake leg was in good condition, but a newer one wouldn’t hurt.

“And then the next house we went in.” Dis carried on, picking up more papers from the table and gave Fili a smile as he entered the room. Dis shared the same dark, thick hair that her brother had, with eyes just slightly darker. She stood quite tall for a dwarven lady and was just barely one inch taller then her brother, which was something she took great pride in. If it frustrated Thorin, it was worth it in her opinion.

She had a wide smile and was built like a broad wall, something that he and Kili had enjoyed immensely as dwarflings where they had just rammed into her and tried to run her over. To this day they had yet to manage that, while they were skilled with weapons, they had a tendency to forget that Dis had enjoyed wrestling for the largest part of her life, which now meant that there was no lady in the mountain who stood steadier on her feet then her.

Thorin hadn’t noticed that Fili had wandered in and kept his eyes focused on his sister. “Whoever lived there must have been a serious doll collector, we found nearly over a hundred dolls. Most fell apart as we picked them up, but we managed to find a good thirty that we can clean up.” Dis carried on speaking and looked back to Thorin, a thick braid fell over her shoulder.

“It wasn’t just a doll shop?” Thorin asked, stroking his beard slowly with his thumb. Fili closed in to the table and pulled out a chair for him to sit in. Thorin spotted him and gave Fili a nod.

“No, living area in the first room of the house, no sign on the outdoors and no hints on the indoors that it was a shop in the first place. “ Dis said with a shrug and wandered over to the desk in the corner of the room where she just dropped the papers.

“Probably a collector. But good that you found the dolls, we’ve been running low on toys since the craftsmen aren’t set up yet.” Fili added to the conversation and took off his coat that he had been wearing through the day, glad to have that weight of his shoulders.

“Anything new happen today?” Thorin asked Fili, tone suddenly sounding a lot more interested then the conversation he had with his sister. Fili almost wanted to chuckle at it, but instead just grinned a bit as he raised his shoulders.

“Not really, same old same old. Two or three more days and we can open up another mine. We gave out a few more houses, got some new workers for in the forge though they are still struggling with keeping the fire lit. They’re to few at the moment so they have to relight it every morning, which slows down everything.” Fili admitted.

They didn’t manage to produce a lot yet, but there was more then there had been at the beginning of it all and while it was a struggle now, both him and Balin were confident once enough dwarves migrated they could keep the fires ablaze all day and all night long. When he looked upon them now, it was a bit hard to believe that once upon a time all of them had been ablaze constantly, and the amount of gold they would be able to melt and shape in one day must have been immense. He looked forward to the day where he could see that result for himself one day and know that he had contributed.

“The other settlement from the Blue Mountains shouldn’t be more then a couple of weeks now. Once they arrive everything will go a lot smoother.” Dis said with such a confidence that Fili wasn’t quite sure where she got it. But he was glad nonetheless, that she believed in the mountain and it’s recovery.

“Kili not back yet today?” Dis asked as she pulled out a chair for herself, seating herself next to Thorin and faced Fili. Fili shook his head. “He’ll be back soon, it’s getting darker and they’re usually back by then.” Dis then quickly decided, no trace of worry in her voice.

“You fit enough to join us downstairs for dinner today Uncle? You look perky enough for it.” Fili then quickly asked and looked to Thorin with a smile that his uncle probably had gown to hate over the years. Thorin did look better today, there was some more colour in his cheeks and he could feel how Thorin was fidgeting with his legs under the table, itching to go out and have a stretch.

“I’ll join.” Thorin said in what was an attempt to a bored tone, but in reality he was glad to have been asked. Fili felt excited upon hearing that, it would do the dwarves of Erebor good if they got to see their true King from time to time. And it made answering questions about Thorin’s health all the more easy if they did get to see that he did sometimes still wince, that his limp was still there but improving and that he still needed some support while walking up the stairs. Fili knew he wasn’t lying to their people, but if they never got to see the truth how could he expect them to believe him?

“Didn’t Kili and the others manage to capture a few boars yesterday? That should provide for a nice dinner, maybe there’ll be a stew or something.” Dis said with hope in her voice. Meat was still scarce, and if there would be a stew they would only get up to three bits of it and the rest would be the broth. Could be worse Fili supposed, little bit of meat was better then no meat what so ever.

“Stew would be nice yes.” Thorin mused and pushed his chair back a bit. “Let’s get moving.”

Thorin didn’t want to say it, but Fili knew that Thorin wanted to go purely because of the time it would take him to get all the way down. Dis knew as well, but just like her son she chose to remain quiet and followed her brother.

Fili let Thorin lead the way and left his coat behind. It was after work hours and his shoulders had been aching by the weight. And now with Thorin by his side there was no longer a need for him to come across as official. Just decent, and he still looked decent in his opinion.

Thorin walked ahead with Dis, who had now started talking about more findings she and her group had encountered. Thorin seemed more interested now and offered his sister more suggestions about what they could do with some of their more unusual findings, all which Fili suspected had to do with being able to leave his room.

Fili remained behind them, happy to just listen along. The slight throb to the beginning of the headache had slowly started to ease, and he was quite sure that with a bit of drink and food it would disappear fully, if not, then climbing into bed early would surely do the trick.

The dining halls were quite empty when they reached them. Only a few tables were occupied. Some were taken by guards who had ended their shifts and some had been claimed by miners who had come up for their dinner. They picked a table close to the doors and Fili went off to get them something to eat while Dis went for drinks.

There was no luck for any stew, though it seemed like there had been earlier during the day. So Fili found some bread and cheese instead, along with a couple slices of ham hidden away, which he all piled up on a plate for them to share. He poured some of the broth in a couple of bowls, thinking that it was better then nothing and returned back to the table, managing to balance everything on his arms perfectly. Those few years where he had worked in a tavern had paid of after all.

They all mumbled a thank you and each took their bowl, Fili himself started with taking some cheese and a bit of bread, put one on the other and then took his bowl. They ate in silence for a moment, savouring the bit of food they managed to find and being content with listening to the murmur around them.

At least until a guard ran past them, Fili chewed on a bit of cheese as they head over to the other guards at the back of the hall, but decided not to think to much of it. After work hours, he tried to remind himself and took another bite, he didn’t want to start that habit so soon in his career. But once two more guards ran into the hall, Fili started to accept that it would become a late night and that there most likely would be nothing he could do about it.

Thorin glanced over his shoulder as well to the guards, slowly lowering the spoon back into the bowl. Dis eventually noticed that the two keeping her company had lost interest in their food, and spotted the guards talking amongst themselves with concerned expressions on their faces. “What’s going on?” She asked softly but no one replied.

Then a seated guard pointed over to their table and most of them scrambled up and dashed of. Two of the guards who had come running into the dining halls hurried over to their table. “Your grace.” The first dwarf who reached their table with a slight fluster across his cheeks and gave Thorin a nod. “My Lady, My Lord.”

“What seems to be the problem?” Thorin questioned in a tone that Fili was all too familiar with. It had taken him years before he stopped seeing an underlying threat in that tone. The guard straightened up and Dis shuffled all their bowls together onto a pile.

“Lord Kili has returned with his group your Grace. They encountered some dwarven children, lone children and brought them back in. We think they might be orphans your Grace.” The slight fluster slowly started to leave the guard’s cheeks and Thorin had a frown on his face. “Rumour has it that they were quite… feisty. And not on their way to Erebor in the first place.”

“We’ll go see them.” Thorin stated quickly and brushed off his hands, then carefully placed both of his palms on the table to push himself up. Dis raised quickly, grabbing her brothers arm to give him the little bit of extra support that he needed. Fili stood up as well and followed them out, staying behind Thorin and his mother.

The guard led them down to the entrance off the mountain, having Balin join them very quickly on one of the stairs down. They wandered over the golden floor and Thorin kept his head high, trying his best not to look down. Fili himself couldn’t help but to look down at least once on the golden shine of it, but snapped out of it when he heard a roar of laughter ahead.

A bundle of dwarves had gathered in a circle by the big doors, spreading apart only slightly when the guard tapped a way through. Once Thorin was spotted, they no longer had to shove and could smoothly walk up to the centre of the circle.

Kili stood in the middle, struggling to keep a young dwarf in place. The boy could hardly be much older then Gimli, but was barely half his size in width. He had black hair in the same shade of the night with some curls, making his skin look porcelain white. While he was trapped in Kili’s arms, who looked flustered with the struggle, the boy made all the efforts to break free. Arms and legs were swaying in all directions, aiming in for every punch and kick that he could manage. He even aimed to bite down on Kili’s arm.

The other two dwarflings that two other scouts were struggling with seemed to have a bit more fear within them, but struggled nonetheless. They to barely had any width to them and seemed light as feathers, in a way they reminded Fili of the children of men and he would have thought they were boys from Dale, if it wasn’t that their height didn’t match the age that one could see on their faces.

“Let me **_go!_** ” The boy with the black hair cried out and proceeded to batter down on Kili’s arm. Kili, slightly out of breath, regripped on the boy and glanced to Thorin, some of his hair was plastered stuck on his temple and Fili didn’t want to know how long he had been holding onto that boy.

“We found them down by that little river. Trying to fish.” Kili spoke directly to Thorin. “They had horses with them, but they scared them away before we could get to them.”

“Horses?” Dis questioned, Kili nodded and regripped of the boy again, who had gone back to biting Kili’s arm. Fili was glad for Kili’s sake that he was wearing his good bracers today, he must barely be able to feel the bite. Kili nodded.

“Saddled and everything my lady, these boys were riding them. Or so they claim” One of the guards chirped in, the boy he held in his arms seemed to have given up, but was still shooting cautious looks to the other dwarves that had gathered around them.

Thorin took a couple of steps forward towards Kili, the black haired boy eased his struggle and glanced up to Thorin with a scowl, but still tried to push Kili’s arms away. “Did you three steal the horses from Dale?” Thorin asked in a calm tone, but it didn’t seem to have any effect on the boy.

“No.” He hissed back, not removing his eyes from Thorin.

“So you ride them?” Thorin asked, having not taken any offense at the hiss.

“Obviously.”

Thorin looked to the other two dwarven boys, who looked slightly younger then the one Kili held, but yet they all looked to be at least fifty and none of them had reached their growth spurt yet that would carry them into adulthood. It was hard to imagine that the boys could climb up on even a pony and ride it. To imagine them on horses? That seemed like an incredible stretch.

“Where are you from?” Thorin asked, but the boy didn’t answer. “Where are you from?” Thorin asked again, letting his patience show through again. The boy started to struggle less, but like a cat having spotted a prey he didn’t budge from Thorin or his gaze.

“Middle Earth.” The boy replied in such a self-righteous tone that even Fili had to fight to smile. While the boy was rather rude, Fili had started to take a small liking to the boy. He understood what the guards had meant; they were feisty and carried enough willpower for several dwarves in their tiny bodies.

“What are your names and what were you doing there?” Thorin asked, but yet again didn’t get an answer shot back to him instantly. Fili glanced to the other two boys and spotted Balin next to him, who with worried eyes looked at the children and had covered his mouth with his hand, resting his elbow in his other. Fili carefully nudged his side to get his attention.

Balin’s eyes turned to him, the otherwise bright and blue eyes now seemed darker with worry, almost as if he was about to burst out into tears. “What’s wrong?” Fili asked on a hushed whisper, he heard the youngest two of the dwarves give up their names to Thorin.

“Their clothes.” Balin gave them a nod, turning his eyes back to the two smaller boys. “Take a look.”

At first Fili didn’t quite understand what Balin meant. They were dressed, so it wasn’t as if they were suffering from the cold or had been struggling the past few weeks. In fact, their clothes seemed to be quite proper to him. But then Fili understood what Balin meant.

The clothing of the boys barely looked anything like dwarven clothing. The jackets they wore were made out of leather and furs, which in its own wouldn’t have been so weird. What made it odd was how tightly they were wrapped around their bodies.

Dwarves had a tendency to just pile up clothing, which made them look like bricks and did prefer the looser jackets. To see them that tight against children was odd. Their trousers were wrapped just as tight around their legs, leaving barely anything of the shape of them to imagination. The boots were similar. While most dwarves had the big boots, making their feet look quite clumsy, these boys didn’t have that look. The boots looked oddly elvish.

There was no desire in the children to look larger, broader and stronger. In fact, they almost seemed to fully embrace being smaller then their kin. Even if they looked as if they had never had a proper meal in their entire lives.

“Hunter clothes almost, right?” Fili replied to Balin on a low whisper, looking back to Thorin who seemed to have fished out the name of the oldest boy. If it turned out to be his real name however, was something that they’d have to wait and see. Balin nodded.

“And horses, this is not good at all.” Balin almost sounded like Bilbo with the way he spoke. Fili looked back down to Balin, expecting the older dwarf to carry on. “They are wilding dwarves, we have wildling dwarves in the area. This is not good at all.” Balin shook his head, Fili looked back to the boy.

“I thought those were just stories to keep us out of the woods.” Fili stated, speaking slightly louder now. He remembered his mother saying those tales when they had left their houses to go and play outside of the mountain. Don’t go to deep or the wildling dwarves will snatch you and you they wont let you go home. As a dwarfling he had believed it, as a grown dwarf he had become sceptical. Upon travelling so much of Middle Earth he still had to encounter a single one of them.

“I wish they were Fili. It’s rare that they come this close to any place. But they are very real.” Balin whispered. “Thorin. We should just let them go.” Balin spoke louder and stepped out of the crowd. The boy in Fili’s arms froze and stared to Balin.

“You can’t be serious. We dragged them all the way from that river and they’re struggling more then cats about to get a bath and you just want to let them _go_?” Kili questioned, the frustration clearly audible in his voice.

Thorin looked from Balin to the boy, who’s face had lit up at Balin’s words, his eyes had grown bigger as he watched Thorin with hope. Fili could see the clogs spin in Thorin’s head as he thought. Then Thorin shook his head.

“No.” Thorin stated. “We’re not letting them go on this hour. I want to know where they came from. We’re keeping them, at least for the time being. Take them to a room and keep them there overnight. We’ll have a proper talk with them in the morning.”

Kili’s arms shot to life again as the boy started kicking and hitting again, but it gave Kili a chance to lift him up and proceed to drag him away.

“My father knows where we are! When the horses come back to camp without us he will ride towards you and he will bash down your doors and burn everything in his path until he has us back!” The boy screamed to Thorin, pointing one of his fingers to him. Thorin didn’t react and just watched how now several guards came along and gave Kili and the other scouts a helping hand. They took over the boys, and soon Kili turned to return to them.

“I am never having children.” Kili said once he was within earshot, letting Dis burst out in a fit of giggles. Even Fili had to smile a bit at the sheer exhaustion that his brother had written all over his face.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Kili grimaced as he inspected his arm. The bite from dwarfling had hurt quite badly when he had received it the day before. But he hadn’t expected his arm to actually take on a dark blue and purple shade where the little mongrols teeth had clamped down on him. And now looking at the bruise he was just glad that he had worn a strong enough jacket. He feared if he hadn’t, then he probably would have gotten his skin torn of.  
  
Shuddering some from the morning cold, he gently rolled down his sleeve again and rubbed his hands together. **“** I’ll never forgive that brat.” Kili muttered, popping his collar up so the chill cold wouldn’t be much of a bother to him. Jarman, who stood looking over the foggy fields all the way to Dale, snorted.  
  
“He got you good.” Jarman rested one arm against the battlements and turned to look at Kili, the expression of both glee and mockery was clear on his friends face. Kili just glared in response and stretched his legs out, gently crossing his arms over his chest. **“** Why did you even grab the one that had the most fight in it? Couldn’t just have grabbed one of the other two, they were gentler weren’t they?”  
  
Kili shrugged in response to that. **“** That one just happened to be the closest, regret not having him tied up now. Would have made all of our lives easier. I got the exercise of a lifetime. And I thought that sparring with Dwalin was bad.” ****  
  
“Kid had more fight in it then me ma when she found out dad had spent all the money he had on that stupid boat of his.” Jarman said, and now was Kili’s turn to snort. They both fell silent, Jarman looked back out over the fields and the fog ahead of them and Kili wondered for a moment if Jarman’s father had ever docked the boat in order in water.  
  
“What happened with them?” Jarman asked after a moments of silence, making Kili look up to him again with a confused expression. **“** I mean, where did you put them and all that. Is King Thorin planning on letting them go?”  
  
Kili shrugged as response and got up from the stool he was sat on, walked the few steps over to the battlements and leaned against them next to Jarman. **“** Nah, he wanted to talk with them first. But wanted to give the brat a bit of time to cool off first, hoping that he’d have blown of some steam. After that? Don’t know, might release them. Might keep them a bit longer. Depends on what he finds out. And how much of that is actual truth.” ****  
  
Jarman hummed in response and Kili fell quiet again. He didn’t believe the dwarfling, he hadn’t believed him when he had been screaming in protest to let him go, that he was a prince and that his father would have their heads for even touching him and his friends. Princes didn’t act like that.  
  
True, Kili hadn’t exactly been the calmest prince himself when he had been younger. Some would probably go as far and call him incredibly unruly. But he had never been as wild as that dwarfling had been. Kili didn’t believe there had been an ounce of truth to the words that had been screamed.  
  
If something, he believed that they were nothing else but ordinary dwarves. Dwarves who had their horses carry everything for them, despite the saddles. They must have been just children of dwarves who were still wandering after the devastation that had been called Smaug. Dwarves who just like his uncle had once lost a home, and now made their return back. And the children were nothing more but unruly children.  
  
“What’s that?” Jarman asked, breaking the silence again and nudged Kili in his side, waking him up from his daydream and looked out over to the fields to where Jarman was pointing.  
  
It took him a moment to spot what Jarman had spotted, and he had to squint to see the shadow. At first he thought it was a bush, until it moved. To large for a dwarf or any man, but yet he didn’t feel confident in guessing what it was with the fog. Had it been clear weather then he would have given it a shot.  
  
“I don’t know.” Kili admitted, leaning a bit more over the battlements although it didn’t help. Whatever the shadow in the distance was, it turned, and disappeared. It didn’t give Kili a good feeling. He didn’t move at first, waiting for it to come back but it didn’t happen.  
  
**“** I’m going to go down to the gate, alright? I’m going to go out and have a look with some others. I’ll send up Thyn or something in my stead alright?” Kili said, leaning back from the battlements, patted Jarman on his arm and pushed himself away, not even bothering to register any comments that Jarman might have uttered and sped down the walkway.

~*~

Fili hadn’t slept at all during the night. Although he had done his best to not think at all of the dwarven children that had been brought in before bed, it had still plagued his mind. He had lost count of the amount of times when he nearly had gotten out of bed to go and check up on them and the guards. Mahal was the only one who knew how, but somehow Fili had managed to refrain.  
  
Yet it didn’t stop Balin’s words from spooking through his head, combined with what one of the children had shouted for everyone in the hall to hear it didn’t leave a good feeling in his stomach.  
  
_My father knows we are here. When the horses come back to camp without us he will ride towards you and he will bash down your doors and burn everything in his path until he has us back._  
  
A threat that he wouldn’t have taken seriously in any other circumstance and just dismissed it as something shouted in panic with the fantasy of a child. But with Balin having pointed out something as simple as their clothing, and that a child’s tale was actually true gave him a heavy churning feeling in his stomach. He wanted to believe it was nothing else but a child’s tale, and that it was nothing more but an empty threat.  
  
Fili could hear the dull thumping against a door as he neared the hallway where the dwarflings had been kept. It was oddly rhythmic and reminded him of the noise that the carpenters had been making lately in the houses spread all over Erebor, except this wasn’t a carpenter.  
  
Looking up from the stone tiles, Fili saw Thorin and Dwalin, sat together on a bench mumbling in hushed voices, completely ignoring the thumping that came from the door next to them. **“Gentlemen.”** Fili said with a nod of the head as he approached the two elder dwarves.  
  
Thorin looked positively just as exhausted Fili felt, but it did make him feel better to see that Dwalin was in an even worse state then Thorin and Fili were combined. With tired, bloodshot eyes Dwalin looked away from Thorin and up to Fili. **“That brat hasn’t stopped all night.”**  
  
Fili raised his eyebrows and looked at the heavy wooden door with the faded gold and blue painting on it, the rhythmic thud now seemed more terrifying. **“You mean…?”** Fili nodded over to the door, terrified of hearing the answer.  
  
“Impressive isn’t it?” Thorin actually smiled to Fili before he looked at the door. “I’d almost admire the kid for that. We think it’s just the one, which makes it all the more incredible that he carried on all night.” Fili whistled in response.  
  
“I’d call it more horrifying then anything.” Fili looked away from the door and to Dwalin who was rubbing his eyes. If the child had managed to wear him down then it could only mean that the kid had a fire burning within him similar to that of a dragon. He had seen that sort of fire burning in some dwarven children, the energy was usually enough to drive their children half mad, and those children had been the best soldiers he had ever seen after training.  
  
“Ready to go in?” Thorin asked Fili with such an excitement that he hadn’t seen in his uncle since he had started planning to take back Erebor.  
  
**“** Sure.” Fili said reluctantly. He was truthfully, a little bit scared of the boy. **“** Dwalin, why don’t you go home, catch some sleep, you deserve it.” Fili said to Dwalin, who groaned in relief from being put off duty. Fili glanced to the other two guards who stood against the walls who had been quiet during the entire conversation, leaning against their axes and dressed in simple, identical armour.  
  
“You two been here only since this morning?” Fili asked them. Both dwarves nodded, responding at the same time. Both with an ‘yes my lord’ that still gave Fili a tingling feeling in his chest. **“** Good, you two can come with us in there, just in case.” Fili nodded decisively and just missed the proud smile that flashed over Thorin’s face.  
  
Dwalin got up, saluted Thorin and made to leave. Thorin himself struggled getting up from the bench, a grimace flashed over him as the pain of his leg was becoming once more apparent. But as soon as he stood straight, it disappeared and Thorin once more looked regal. “After you.” Thorin then told the guards, nodding over the door where the hypnotic thumping was still going on.  
  
The guards took their axes and went to the door. Fili stepped back and observed the guards. One placed a hand on the doorhandle, and waited for a thud, once it echoed throughout the hall he instantly opened the door. There was a clatter in the room, two shrieks of surprise and one yell of success. Both guards rushed in, and the dwarfling that had just screamed out in success shot into a mouthful of curses. The other two remained silent.  
  
Fili, rather not risking an incident followed the guards in, seeing how the other guard had just walked up to the other two dwarlings, cornering them on the bed that they had been sitting in. The first guard who had entered, had already gone ahead and taken a solid grip of the little warg of a dwarfling.  
  
Thorin walked in as last, sitting down by the window and letting the grimace come across him again as his leg ached once more. Fili looked from his uncle to the boy being held, and when Thorin didn’t speak up amongst the growling Fili decided that it was best if he spoke up.  
  
**“** ”What’s your name?” Fili asked, folding his hands together and looked at the boy. He stopped struggling against the guard for a moment and sniffed.  
  
While the fire was still burning within his body, even he did look a bit out of breath and tired from the struggle that he had been putting up for the past twelve hours to the least. And he hadn’t eaten. Out of the three bowls of food that had been brought in, only two had been touched. Fili didn’t have to guess to figure out who’s the untouched bowl was.  
  
“What is your name?” Fili repeated, and watched how the boy looked at him. It wasn’t until now when he noticed the sharp, cold and almost eagle like light grey eyes staring at him. Scrutinizing every single move that Fili would have make.  
  
“Cael.” The boy said after a moment of silence, just when Fili started to doubt that he would speak up again in the first place. Then he nodded over to the other two on the bed, seemingly taking charge of them. **“** Hjol and Bylrin.” Cael spoke for the other two dwarflings and glared back to Fili.  
  
“Your friends?” Fili asked, seeing none of the dwarflings even looked remotely alike. The other boy was ginger and had dark eyes, freckles spotted his cheeks and there was a lighter tinge of skin on his cheek from a scar. The girl’s skin was darker and her brown hair was unbraided and messy, thick enough to make Fili believe that a hair brush would break if someone attempted to brush it.  
  
Cael nodded and the guard holding him relaxed a little bit. Luckily the boy made no attempt to move out of his grip. “What were you three doing near the river?” Fili asked, looking at the other two children on the bed and hoped that they would speak up as well. But it didn’t seem like they had it in mind, and even if they did Cael cut them off.  
  
“We wanted to fish, so we rode ahead from the group.” Cael snapped in response.  
  
“You rode ahead, with the horses?” Fili asked, still finding the whole idea of that rather incredulous. Cael snorted.  
  
“Well how else would we have gotten there? Walked?” Cael asked with such sarcasm that Fili could almost feel how the boy rolled his eyes. He bit his tongue.  
  
“How do you even ride them?”  
  
“Well like you would ride a pony I’d imagine.” Cael stated matter of factly, straightening up a bit as he smiled. Utterly pleased with himself.  
  
“You’re barely four feet, how do you get up on something that’s five and a half?” Fili questioned, getting slightly impatient with Cael. The boy shrugged as if it was nothing.  
  
“You give each other boosts, you climb up on something, you pull yourself up, you pull one another up. you make them kneel. There’s plenty of ways, you lot just haven’t figured it out yet.” Cael spoke with such arrogance that it made him look exceptionally nasty.  
  
“When you say group, who do you mean?” Thorin spoke up from the back corner, sounding calm as if none of the snark from the child had ever bothered him. Cael looked away from Fili, the grey eyes suddenly staring at his uncle.  
  
“Everyone.” Cael said. Thorin just looked at the boy, still expecting to hear more of a reply. So the silence was thick, one that wouldn’t be lifted until Cael told him more. And that seemed like something that the boy understood, for he carried on. “My dad, my mom, my siblings. Their families, other families. The group, everyone.”  
  
“And who is this group?” Thorin asked, the answer not satisfying him. Cael looked confused, as if he was unsure what Thorin wanted him to say. So he raised his shoulders again.  
  
“Just, everyone?” Cael responded, the confusion now obvious in the tone of his voice. Thorin nodded slowly, rubbing his hands together.  
  
“Right, Cael, we’re going to be asking questions, and you’ll do your best to answer them, do you understand?” Thorin told Cael, who neither agreed nor disagreed with Thorin.  
  
~*~  
  
It didn't give him a good feeling in his stomach as he stepped further out into the fog, still keeping his bow and arrow at the ready. It was silent, not a single sound that could be heard off and that was what scared him. Most of the time he could at least hear some bird in the distance, some bug, but he didn’t hear anything.  
  
“We should go back my lord, wait until this fog clears up before coming back out my lord, this is dangerous.” One of the dwarves behind him spoke up, and Kili was inclined to agree. They couldn’t see a thing but he didn’t want to leave it as it was. He had seen something in the fog, something large that had disappeared and he wanted to know what it was.  
  
“I know.” Kili swallowed, looking around again to no avail. He wanted to think that there was a logical explanation behind it all. That it was something as simple as someone from Dale taking a morning ride. Although Kili couldn’t figure out who would want to come so close to Erebor so early in the morning. That was a bit of a suicide idea, he thought.  
  
“Let’s go back, once the fog is clear and we’re heading out. We’ll split up the groups.” Kili stated, one half in the woods hunting and exploring, the other half searching for the shadow. That way maybe they could at least solve some of the mystery.  
  
“Yes my lord, as you command.” A second dwarf behind him spoke up. Kili nodded, as if that asserted the whole ordeal and tried to relax. The cold was still nipping against his cheeks and his ears felt oddly warm as they burned from the cold. His clothes had soaked through with the fog and clung cold to his body.  
  
Then he heard it, the soft sound of… what? Kili raised his hand for the dwarves behind him to stop moving as he listened to the sound. Rythmic thudding that grew louder, and… more.  
  
The realization came quickly and his heart froze. Just as he realised it was incoming horses, one large dapple grey shot out of nowhere and before he even had a chance to react and aim his bow and arrow at them a club collided into his chest from the rider.  
  
It knocked him straight of his feet, sending him flying through the air for a split second before he landed in the wet grass, all the air knocked out of him as his chest throbbed with a dull pain. He gasped for breath as more horses rode past, he heard short muffled screams from the other dwarves who had followed him out as they to were knocked of their feet.  
  
He heard the horsemen turn, dismounting their horses with jumps. Not long after Kili felt someone tug him up by his hood. Coming to his feet stumbling, he felt the sharp prick in his back from a knife and winced, arching his back away from it as the horseman pulled his hood back further, keeping Kili in a locked position.  
  
“We take them with us.” The voice behind him was cold, yet spoke in such a manner that Kili wouldn’t have questioned his authority if it had been a command directed to him. He was pulled around, facing the mountain again in the distance and saw that the two who had his guards in the exact same position as him where dwarves. The dapple horse that had shot out of nowhere now stood with two others, lighter dapple and a chestnut. One of the horses snorted and shook its mane before starting to graze. In the fog Kili could make out more horses, still mounted with their riders.  
  
“Move.” The dwarf told Kili, digging his knife into Kili’s back to make him go forward. Steering him to the dapple-grey horse. “Someone help me tie his hands and feet together.”  
  
~*~  
  
“Your grace.” The guard crashed into the room, nearly making Fili jump out of his skin. Cael however did jump from the sudden appearance, causing the guard to grip him tighter again.  
  
“What’s the matter?” Thorin spoke quickly, forcing himself up from his seat with much effort that for once wasn't displayed on his face. One didn’t need to have much of a brain to realise that the guard had rushed.  
  
“My lord.” He gave a quick nod to Fili before looking back to Thorin. “Dwarves at the gates sire. They have Lord Kili as hostage sire.”  
  
Thorin shot past the guard, setting direction towards the gate while Fili remained standing, stunned. Cael smirked at him. “See? I told you my father would come for us.” Cael spoke coldly, as he was a villain in a child’s tale. Fili’s temper flared.  
  
“Stay here with them! Do not let them out of this room!” Fili shouted to the two guards before following in Thorin’s pursuit. For once Thorin didn’t struggle with his leg, he moved at such a fast pace that Fili struggled keeping up with him.  
  
They shoved their way through the mass of dwarves near the gate, pushing their way through until they came at front. Two dwarves stood at front, hands held up and two other dwarves keeping them in position. In front of them stood horses mounted with dwarves, and the one who stood the closest on the dapple horse had Kili placed over the horses back and the dwarves legs, a knife still balancing tip down on Kili’s back.  
  
“Kili.” Fili hissed to himself, fighting the urge to just step forward and get his brother back. He didn’t however, and remained standing next to Thorin, who had taken on an empty stone of a face as he watched the dwarves. One that he knew from childhood and had seen many times before, Thorin was going to negotiate.  
  
The dwarf on the dapple made his horse step forward, and as he got closer Fili could see the facial features resembling that of Cael. They had the same shade of eyes, although his looked warmer. His black hair was thick with locks, braided alongside the side of his head to keep it somewhat back, but yet it fell over his shoulders. There was a faint blue outline of tattoos on his temple, though Fili couldn’t judge what they formed. Though the dwarf could barely be much older then Fili himself, and could in no way be Cael’s father.  
  
“I want my brother back.” The dwarf spoke calmly, yet he had authority in his voice. “And Hjol, and Bylrin. Give them back to us, and you can have your men back.” He demanded. The horse stamped with a hoof and Fili wanted to give in almost instantly. He didn’t, however. Instead he glanced hesitantly over to Thorin.  
  
“And what if we refuse?” Thorin asked, making Fili almost want to punch him for even questioning the other. Rather then just giving in to the demands instantly so they could be done with them.  
  
“You see, when we rode these down. Those two.” The dwarf nodded to the guards on the ground. “Called this one lord.” He spun the knife on Kili’s back. “So he is of some level of importance to you. If you refuse and you don’t give us back, the three _children_ that you took. This lord here will get a knife in between his ribs very slowly, and into his lung. I’m sure you can figure out the rest what happens after such an injury.”  
  
“Uncle Thorin.” Fili said on a low voice to Thorin. Thorin didn't react.  
  
“Show that he is alive. And we will consider.” Thorin stated coldly. The dwarf on the horse didn’t argue and looked down to Kili sprawled over his lap. He gave moved a leg upwards, shaking Kili into action. His brother didn’t move much, but he did raise his tied hands upwards to sign that was still breathing. They must have muffled him.  
  
Fili gripped Thorin by his arm and turned his uncle to face him, away from the dwarves watching. **“** Uncle, I need to have my brother back.” Fili growled to Thorin, gripping a hold of his uncle’s arm tightly to show him how serious he was.  
  
Thorin nodded lightly, and now Fili could see the concern in his uncles eyes. “We have to be careful with them Fili, you understand that, don’t you?” Thorin asked Fili on a hushed whisper. Fili nodded. “Go get them.”  
  
Fili nodded again and turned. As he walked towards the mountain he heard his uncle call out to the dwarf. Once inside Erebor’s gates, Fili ran.  
  
~*~  
  
The morning air was welcomed to Cael, who had felt like he had been burning with a fever ever since he had been brought to that blasted mountain. He had never known that being so indoors would be that warm.  
  
He grinned as he saw his brother and quickened his pace the second the guard let go of him. He barely saw Hjol and Bylrin walk beside him and towards the dwarves they knew.  
  
Although once he came closer to his brother, he saw that Farvo was everything but pleased. He glared down to Cael, who wailed a protest towards the incoming scolding he was about to receive and gently placed his hand on the neck of his brothers stallion, Yago. Though yet, Farvo reached down his arm for Cael to take. “Get up you little shit, dad’s furious with you.” Cael scrunched his face and took his brothers hand, quickly being pulled up behind him on Yago’s rump.  
  
“Release them.” Farvo commanded to the dwarves on the ground, who Cael could vaguely make out to be Donar and Yoka. They just let go of the hoods of the dwarves and moved back to their own horses. Yago snorted with impatience and stomped his hoof. Then Farvo made the horse move backwards, the other dwarves had already turned theirs. The blonde dwarf which Cael had come to understand was Fili took a step closer.  
  
“We’re taking him with us for now. My father has further… business deals to discuss.” ****  
  
Cael didn’t even have to see his brothers face to know that he was smirking and nearly rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately, he’s busy for the time being. You can meet us tomorrow, further east there’s three rocks at the edge of the tree line, surely you know of it. Meet us there at noon. There we will negotiate, and you can have this boy back.”  
  
Farvo backed Yago further back, ensuring that no bow and arrows were being aimed at them, then he tucked the knife back in the inside of his jacket and turned Yago.  
  
“Why on earth did you have to let yourself get caught you blockhead?” Farvo hissed to Cael before setting Yago off into a gallop.  
  
“Well I didn’t mean to did I?!” Cael called back to Farvo, gripping hold of his brothers jacket tighter now.


	3. Chapter 3

They hadn’t ridden for long before Farvo had made them pull over, something that Kili was grateful for. Traveling by horse sprawled over someone’s lap was by far the least comfortable way he had travelled, especially since his chest still ached from the hit he had taken. Farvo had ordered Cael off and, and commanded some other dwarves to help get Kili down onto the ground, to which he groaned in relief.  
  
One of the dwarves had chuckled and knelt down to cut the ropes around his ankles and the rope that had gagged him while Farvo explained what was going to happen after an inquiry if Kili knew how to ride. He hadn’t wanted to respond at first, but eventually he had nodded. Next before he knew it, he had been helped up on a horse and had momentarily felt sick from the height of it, the reigns had been given to another dwarf on a horse next to him. Cael was running his mouth in the background, to which Farvo shot into a discussion with him.  
  
Any other time Kili would have found the sight hilarious, of an older brother desperately trying to keep a little brother in line who was just being a brat. But he didn’t laugh and gripped a hold of the mane of the horse he had been helped up on. Farvo sent two dwarves to ride ahead to deliver the message they were on their way, and then settled the discussion with Cael by giving the boy a smack on the back of his head. To which he only responded that he was going to tell their mother.  
  
Farvo muttered a wide varieties of ‘lord stand by me’ in a peculiar colourful way and mounted his horse again with a swift movement that surprised Kili considering the dwarf’s stature. Kili had struggled, and he must have been at least a good four inches taller, Farvo couldn’t be any bigger then Fili he figured.  
  
And then they rode off again, which was terrifying and made his heart jump to his throat. Kili wasn’t entirely unskilled in riding, but even he couldn’t deny that there was a huge difference in between the gallop of a pony, to that of a horse. He nearly lost his balance at first, and then just clung to the manes while the horse galloped which ease over the fields, the fog finally clearing.  
  
Kili wasn’t sure how long they rode, the momentarily terror and then sheer adrenaline of speed the horse had taken off into had made it quite difficult for him to keep track of time. And how far they travelled. All he knew, was that they had long passed the one and only familiar landmark to him.  
  
And then, the riders slowed their horses to a trot, and eventually just a walk. That’s when Kili saw the camp. He hadn’t known what he was expecting, but he knew upon the time when he saw it wasn’t what he ever had thought.  
  
There tents up all over, smokes of fires, the neighing of horses and the screaming of playing children. There was laughter of dwarves and a cheer of applause somewhere. But what surprised Kili the most was the amount of dwarves that were gathered on that place. Kili had lived his entire life in the Blue mountains untl he set onto the road to Erebor, and so he had never understood what sort of caravan his uncle, mother and father had travelled with, had lived with. It had always seemed like a fairy tale, he had never understood how it could have worked but had accepted it’s existence in his history nonetheless.  
  
Until now.  
  
The two other children slid of the horses from the dwarves who had been riding and ran off into the camp. Cael and Farvo shot into a discussion, Cael obviously wanting to follow his friends but his brother wasn't having any of it.  
  
Eventually Farvo slowed down his horse, allowing Kili’s to catch up along that of a couple others. He gestured for the reigns to be passed over to him instead, telling that the others could head off and that he would see Kili delivered to his father.  
  
The dwarves dispersed, and soon it was just Kili, Farvo and Cael riding through the camp, deeper and deeper into it. Kili was quietly wondering to himself if there was any possibility for him to escape, to make a run for it in the middle of the night when everybody was asleep. But the deeper in he rode the more it seemed impossible. Every dwarf seemed to have weapons around him, a good number were asleep, some were wrestling, some were cooking, there was always some movement around and Kili didn’t doubt that it would still be the case for it at night.  
  
All he could do was sit quietly and wait for Fili and Thorin to negotiate with their king. And hopefully, they’d reach some level of agreement. Right now? Kili felt glad to give up his share of the gold from Erebor if it meant that he could go home.  
  
“Oh shut your gob.” Farvo eventually snapped, patience having worn thin at the near constant whining of Cael. Looking at Cael’s eyeroll, Kili couldn’t help but snort.  
  
“Are you two always like that?” Kili asked curiously, looking at the two brothers next to him. Farvo gave him a look of an exhausted scream for help.  
  
“What? Him being a little shit? Unfortunately.” Farvo grunted, Cael grinned widely. It seemed like Farvo could sense it and moved to smack Cael on his leg. “See, he hasn’t even known you for a full and he’s already sick of you.”  
  
“Nah, he loves me.” Cael argued, glancing over to Kili with that same cheeky grin.  
  
“Yeah wouldn't bet on it.” Kili spoke before he thought about it. The words had tumbled out before he even considered the fact that he would be insulting a prince. Cael scowled, and Farvo burst out laughing as if it was the funniest thing he had heard all year.  
  
“See? He gets what I mean, you’re a little prick.” Farvo looked over his shoulder to his little brother with a wide smile, which somehow made his entire face light up. Cael just hit his brother on the shoulder, which only made Farvo laugh more. Kili couldn’t help but smile softly.  
  
“Who are you people?” Kili asked, curiosity peaking one more, and he finally managed to tear his eyes of the two brothers, instead he just looked at the dwarves around them. The kids that were just playing around them, some woman dressed in trousers and a tunic sat and sharpened knives while the man next to her, was busy skinning a rabbit. Horses were everywhere, kept together in groups, in pens that were scattered all over. Some dogs roamed around, chasing some more kids who were running of with a stick.  
  
“We?” Farvo asked, turning to look at Kili and then at the dwarves he was staring at. “We are who we are, wandering dwarves, don’t really have a name for ourselves.” Farvo said with a shrug, pulling his horse to a halt and let Cael dismount first before getting of the horse himself with an air of grace.  
  
He handed the reigns of the stallion over to Cael, who walked off with it towards the nearest pen. Farvo went over to Kili, and gestured for him to come down. “Now, breakfast? Dad should be back soon.”  
  
~*~  
  
“And you let them leave with my son?!” Dis shouted to Thorin, who was stretched out in the chair with one hand pressed against his temple. Fili sat by the table himself, covering his face with both of his hands. “I should kill you! I should kill you Thorin Oakenshield! You let them take my boy!”  
  
“I didn’t have any choice Dis! He could have stabbed Kili if I didn’t!” Thorin argued loudly.  
  
“And what’s to stop him from killing him now huh? Now when he’s all alone with that wild folk! What’s to stop them from killing him and leaving him in the woods! For all sake you’ll find my boy’s body out by the three rocks! Mahal help you Thorin I will not forgive you if that’s what happens tomorrow!”  
  
“What was I supposed to have done Dis! What could I possibly have done in that situation any better then what happened! Come on tell me!” Thorin challenged Dis, throwing his hands up in the air.  
  
“You could have walked back into the mountain with my son rather then letting a bunch of wildlings run of with him!”  
  
“And how was I supposed to do that? Just run up there and drag him down the horse? If the knife hadn’t gotten in between his ribs an arrow would have been in between mine and I would have gotten a kick from that horse to boot.”  
  
“You could have-“  
  
“Shut up!” Fili slammed his hands down on the table, shouting so loudly that both Dis and Thorin flinched. Or maybe it was the noise echoing from the table through the chamber that did it. “Just shut up! Both of you! They have Kili and now we have to figure out how to get him back and arguing amongst ourselves isn’t going to help!”  
  
Thorin growled, but it wasn’t in response to what Fili had said. Dis looked away, placing a hand on her hip and biting down hard on her lip, Fili could tell his mother was doing her best not to cry.  
  
He shut his own eyes and took a deep breath, slowly counting to five to calm himself a bit. “Where’s dad? Does he know yet?” Fili eventually spoke, looking in between his mother and uncle, honestly rather terrified of the idea that his father didn’t know yet. He didn’t have the slightest clue how he would react. It was something that Fili didn’t quite want to find out.  
  
When nobody answered, his heart sank.  
  
“I’ll tell him.” Thorin said, taking the responsibility on his own shoulders. Fili looked at his uncle with an expression of gratitude, who just smiled weakly in response. Dis took a shaky breath and pulled out a chair from under the table, sitting down.

“How do you plan on getting my boy back Thorin?” Dis asked on a much calmer tone and looked at her brother. Fili did the same. He honestly felt clueless about the whole ordeal and didn’t want to be in charge of it.  
  
Thorin with a calm expression, stroked his nose with his finger as he thought, looking at the tiles of the floor. Then he licked his lips and spoke up. “There isn’t much we can do, if Dain had stayed behind longer I would have ridden after them. But we don’t know their numbers, we don’t know much, the “boy didn’t tell us much.” Thorin sighed. “So for now, we will play along, we’ll meet them at the three rocks and hear what they have to say. We wont bring any scouts or warriors for in the woods, I don’t doubt that they will have them there as well. We’ll just have them with us.”  
  
Thorin paused again as he seemed to think through the further steps beyond that. “We’re telling Bard. He needs to know we’ve had trouble with these folk, they rode right past his nose as well as if it was nothing. Perhaps he’s willing to aid us. He’s got for the present more manpower until we are more established.”  
  
“I’m going with you tomorrow.” Dis stated in such a tone that Fili didn’t even want to think of arguing. Personally he found it a rather horrid idea. Thorin didn’t argue with her either, instead he nodded without even a hint of protest.  
  
“That’s a good idea. One tends to get softer about their hostages if they see more family. And I don’t think that they hold a lot of… how to put it, discipline. I don’t think they’ll do something rash!” Thorin realised his mistake and quickly spoke to comfort Dis. “You will go, I will go…” Thorin looked over to Fili who nodded. “Fili will come. Balin should be there, Dwalin and a set of guards and a handful of warriors. We’ll dispatch someone to go to Dale and… that should be the most of it, the quieter we can keep this the better.  
  
Fili chuckled dryly. “Quiet? Thorin half of Erebor saw them ride of with Kili. It wont take long before the word reaches Dale with the daily merchants? Half of the humans probably already know it by now. And once they know you can be certain the elves do.”  
  
“We will do our best, to keep this as quiet as possible.” Thorin repeated coldly. “And we are going to get Kili back to us as soon as possible. So we can dismiss these stories, as rumours and stupid ones at that.”  
  
Fili didn’t respond to that, sensing that he wasn’t supposed to push it any further. Instead he nodded, Thorin mimicked him.  
  
“Good. Now, we go back to our ordinary business, pretend like nothing ever happened. And tomorrow we ride out after breakfast. I’ll go speak to Anor now. Ask if he wants to come along if he can.” Thorin said and stood up with help from the table. Dis sniffed, wiping her cheeks and did the same.  
  
Thorin moved over to her, leg dragging a bit behind him from having sat still and hugged his sister. “We’ll get your boy back, I promise.”  
  
~*~  
  
As far as being held hostage, Kili had quickly realised he could have gotten it way worse. He had heard the horror tales of being locked up in a space where you couldn’t sit or lay down comfortably, a place that was just that little bit to small. About not being fed, not getting any water, not being allowed to sleep. His imagination had admittingly ran a bit wild when he first had arrived to the camp of the wanderers.  
  
He hadn’t taken Farvo seriously at first when he had offered him breakfast, figuring that it was some ploy only to have it taken away from him just in front of his nose. But no, Farvo sat them down and got breakfast for the both of them, more then what Erebor was able to offer and Kili was a little bit ashamed to admit that he had scoffed it. Cael had joined them shortly after he had handed over Yago to a different dwarf to be tended for.  
  
Luckily however, Cael didn’t have the time to be much of a little prick. He pulled a couple of comments true, but it hadn’t taken long for his and Farvo’s father to arrive. There was… oddly little commotion for that. Kili had expected some level of respect from the other dwarves, bows, your graces’, making the way clear for him. He had expected the dwarf to be treated like Thorin was. They were both kings were they not?  
  
But instead he just appeared right next to them all of a sudden. A dwarf coming out of a crowd with a bowl of food and some bread himself and just sat down on the grass. He wasn’t dressed any fancier then the rest, he wore the same kind of leathers and tight clothing that Farvo and Cael did. His sons were almost the spitting image of him.  
  
They had the same sharp facial features, a high forehead. Black hair, although Farvo’s had more of a shade of brown in his, while his father and Cael’s was so dark it seemed to have hints of blue in it. They all had grey eyes, and the elder also had tattoos on his forehead like his son, but also had some on his cheekbones, his neck, peaking out from under his shirt and hands which were also riddled with numerous small scars and missing a fingernail. Kili figured that he also had his chest, back, shoulders and arms under blue detail, but he never asked to see further. He had a wide grin that showed white teeth although he had two missing in the side of his mouth.  
  
Though he seemed a cheerful guy, and at first didn’t talk about any of the matters concerned. Instead he just asked for Kili’s name and then proceeded to scold Cael for what he had done. After that he just enjoyed the remains of his breakfast. He seemed to be fond of laughing, and even made a crude joke; which made both Kili and Farvo snicker, but Cael ask for further explanation, which he never got.  
  
It wasn't until after they had all finished their breakfast, Farvo had ushered Cael off that the king turned his full attention to Kili. The questions didn’t surprise him the least. How much gold was left in the mountain, how many dwarves, how many of those were merchants, armourers, blacksmiths, guards, scouts, warriors.  
  
Kili answered the questions, although he lowballed every answer, it seemed to satisfy the dwarf however, and he whistled Farvo back over. Kili expected to now be brought away and tied up. Though it never happened. Instead Farvo just got told to spend the day with Kili to make sure he didn’t attempt to run off.  
  
Kili couldn’t quite believe it, but he went along with it nonetheless. The less trouble he stirred and the more trust he could earn the better he figured. Farvo showed him around in the camp, introduced him to some of his friends, and told him about the horses and offered Kili a lesson which he declined.  
  
It pained him to admit, but he rather liked Farvo. The dwarf wasn’t much older, only ninety-two he said. Cael was fifty-four and desperately needed to grow up, Farvo said with an exasperated expression. And besides Cael he had one more brother and sister, twins, twenty-nine years old and his mother was currently expecting another one.  
  
When Kili met the woman, he saw instantly that she was a kind dwarf with a smile that almost instantly made you smile as well. She sat leaning against some pillows by a tent, fixing clothes with needle and thread with her stomach protruding from her. If Farvo hadn’t managed to set him at ease, his mother Skoya did.  
  
As the evening came and the sun set, the fires were brought back alive and the entire camp smelled of roasted meat which made Kili’s mouth water. He sat down by a fire alongside with Farvo and some of his friends, who were sharing tale after tale only to make all of them ripple with laughter. Kili had nearly forgotten he truth to be told was a hostage, but yet, as a story died down, he couldn’t help but ask.  
  
“So, be honest now.” Kili tore a bit of meat from the boar leg, giving Farvo and his friends to quiet down from their giggle fits regarding a tale that Herig had told. Farvo turned his head to Kili with a smile, taking another bite of his own boar leg. “Your dad.” Kili started after he had swallowed the meat, he had intended to eat as much as he possibly could, finding it rather funny in a dark way that wandering dwarves had more food then dwarves in a mountain. “He just wants the gold from Erebor doesn’t he?”  
  
Farvo and his friends chuckled. “Of course he does, have you looked at us?” Farvo asked before he took his wooden mug of drink. Some burning alcoholic drink that was stronger then anything he had ever had in his life. “We’re not exactly rich, we don’t really have a whole lot of stuff to sell whenever we come by villages, and even when we do, it’s not like we can sell everything either. We’re more then often more dwarves then they have in their village, you can only flood their markets with leather clothes so much.”  
  
“Any coin is good coin.” Fobran chimed in, to which the others hummed their agreement. Kili nodded and took his own wooden mug. There was more then enough gold in the mountain, surely Thorin’s dragonsickness had passed more then enough so he’d be willing to pay up, right?  
  
There was still a nagging what if thought in the back of his head however. He didn’t think that the wanderer dwarves would kill him if they didn’t pay up. but he didn’t want to start wandering with them either, even if they had been good to him for one evening.  
  
“Hey, Sura’s back with the others.” Gruter nudged Farvo in his side, making him spill some of his drink on his trousers. He whistled sharply. “Oi Sura! Come over here and have a drink with us!”  
  
Farvo looked furious and he smacked down hard with his fist on Gruter’s thigh. Kili raised his eyebrow in amusement as he watched the spectacle unfold, taking another bite of his food. The girl who had walked by with some other dwarven girls looked at them, and Kili would have put his money on that she would scrunch up her face and keep walking. Instead she grinned and left her friends behind as she wandered over.  
  
She was short even for a dwarf, with bright blonde hair in two braids that laid on her shoulders, her sideburns from her light beard were braided into them. She was dressed in light clothing, scouting clothes with two small daggers tied to her belt at either side, boots that laced up to just below her knees, and like any other dwarf he had met in the camp, she smelled like horse.  
  
“You lads having food without me again huh?” She questioned teasingly, placing her hands on her hips and winked to them before giving Farvo a nod, who just gave her a cheeky grin back.  
  
“Well we can always go away and have a bite to eat if you like?” Farvo flirted shamelessly, ignoring the catcalling he got from his friend as a result. Sura laughed.  
  
“Me and you? Hmm, if you make it worth my while?” She flirted back just the same. Farvo chuckled and didn’t take his eyes of her. Either it was the drink, the fire, or there was a slight blush spreading over his cheeks. Kili trusted his gut, and was going to go with a blush.  
  
“I always will.” He winked to her again. With a few steps she had reached over to him, bent down and pretended to think about the matter.  
  
“Maybe next time.” Sura nudged him with her leg and wandered off, the dwarves burst out laughing.  
  
“She your girlfriend?” Kili asked, Gruter snorted.  
  
“He wishes she was.” Gruter responded, earning another punch on his thigh from Farvo.  
  
~*~  
  
“They’re on time.” Dis observed as she saw the horses and dwarves in the distance. It did slow down Fili’s heartbeat, the stress and worry of them not showing up, of the possibility of just finding Kili dead. He couldn’t see well in the distance, but he recognized one figure and he knew that it was his brother.  
  
“There’s twelve of them.” Dwalin observed with a grunt.  
  
“Kili’s among them, I can see him.” Fili spoke up, pointing over to the figure as he felt his mother grip his arm. He could hear his father sigh out in relief.  
  
“He seems unharmed.” Balin spoke, and they all could hear the relief in his voice as well.  
  
One of the dwarves still mounted on a horse spurred it on, riding over to them in a canter. As he grew closer, Fili could recognize him as the dwarf that had Kili on his lap before he had taken off with him. Fili instantly loathed the dwarf.  
  
Thorin pulled his pony to halt and raised his hand for the others to do the same, the dwarf slowed his horse to a walk and wandered over. “Afternoon.” He spoke now on a much kinder voice, he even had the guts to smile.  
  
“I trust Kili is unharmed?” Thorin asked him instantly.  
  
“In a manner of speaking.” The dwarf responded, Dwalin reached for his axe and the dwarf raised his hand. “Oi calm down, I meant he’s hungover. Not hurt.”  
  
“Hungover?” Anor asked in disbelief, tilting his head to the side. The dwarf nodded, scratching the side of his head.  
  
“Me and him both actually, but that’s a different story.” He shrugged. “He’s fine, he’s been fed, slept in a bed, had drink as you now know. His chest is sore from the knock he got yesterday but he’ll live. It’ll be over in a week or two.”  
  
“Take us to him. We are here to negotiate, not to chitchat.” Dis snapped to the dwarf. He just looked at Dis, his horse swapped it’s tail and neighed, lowering his head to sniff Balin’s pony who didn’t seem to appreciate the attention from the larger animal.  
  
“Fine, come I’ll take you to mum and dad, they’re managing that business.” The dwarf said and turned his horse, making him walk towards the group again. Thorin set his pony into movement again, and soon the others followed.  
  
Fili could see that Dis was resisting the urge to set her pony into a gallop, to rush ahead. But he was glad that she restrained herself.  
  
It was an excruciatingly long minute, the figures grew larger. And eventually the shape that Fili had recognized grew clearer and he saw Kili. The dwarf had spoken the truth, Kili was alright, he was unharmed. Even a good fifteen feet away he could recognize the after-match of alcohol in his brothers tired face as he spoke to the man in front of him who stood with his back turned and the heavily pregnant dwarven lady, who held a hands under her stomach to support. Must have been the parents of the dwarf on the horse.  
  
The lady noticed them first, and touched the man’s arm. He turned to look at them, and then his expression changed.  
  
Dis gasped. “ ** _You!_** ” Dis hissed, furious.  
  
~*~  
  
Farvo had never before seen his father freeze up in absolute terror. And it was probably that terror in his face that stopped Donnar, Garod and all the other dwarves they had brought along for their safety to not react.  
  
The lady had swung herself of her pony and rushed over to Frerin. Her hand swung out behind her, and then smacked against his father’s face in a clap loud enough to make Yago and some other horses skitter.  
  
“Oh that is gold!” Farvo called out, bursting out in laughter as the lady continued to batter his father. Only then did Donnar and Garod shoot to help their king, attempting to pry her off Frerin.  
  
“I ought to kill you you son of a bitch!” Dis voice echoed over the fields.


	4. Chapter 4

“I ought to kill you!” Dis kept shouting as Donnar and Garod managed to pry her of Frerin, who had been struck over and over again by fists and open hands interchangeably while he cowered together, just raising his own arms to protect himself rather then retaliate towards the woman. When Dis was pulled of and dragged a bit away from his father, he just stood there and rubbed his cheek with an absolutely dumbfound look over his face that Farvo would make sure neither he or Frerin ever forgot.

He just stared at Dis, with some odd level of confusion and almost fear in his eyes. Almost as if he had seen a ghost. Skoya stood next to him, her hand on Frerin’s shoulder and squeezed it, both concern and confusion in her eyes as well but directed to his father, and not the screaming woman. 

Though Farvo had to admit. He was impressed with Dis, who made the four dwarves holding her back work for their gold to keep her in place. And they just barely managed to keep her in the spot. Farvo dismounted Yago, sliding out of the saddle and landed in the dirt with a soft thud. Bouncing straight back into balance and walked over to them, 

“I ought to kill you! You disappear off the edge of the world! We believe you to be dead! And then you turn up with such a smug grin with Kili as a hostage! My son! I ought to kill you!” Dis kept repeating over and over. Thorin dismounted his pony with a stiff movement, and he walked over to them. Farvo hurried up his place, placing a hand on his dagger just to be safe. The other guards also stepped closer, which resulted that the accompanying dwarves also dismounted their ponies. 

“I-“ Frerin stammered and stopped rubbing his slapped, now very red cheek and slowly pointed from Dis to Kili as he let the words sink into his mind. Though his expression was still entirely dumbfounded. “He’s?” Frerin never finished his question, but kept his pointed finger to Kili as he looked back to Dis. Kili stood at the back, hands still tied together and with an expression just as confused as that of most dwarves, despite the clear signs of a hangover still visible all over his face. 

“He’s my son!” Dis repeated in a shriek to Frerin. Farvo glanced over to his drinking companion from the day before. Kili met his gaze and raised his shoulders in response, neither of them having any clue what was going on. 

Thorin pushed his way past Dis, which made her fall silent and seize her struggle against the guards that held her back. Thorin stopped a foot away from his Frerin, and Farvo tightened his grip around the dagger again, ready to pull it out at the slightest sign of it. Yet, as the two men stood so close to one another he could tell that they were alike. 

His father did have sharper facial features and lighter eyes, but the differences were subtle. Their hair had the same shade and the same locks, though Frerin wore his longer and his beard was kept shorter, while Thorin had shorter hair and a longer beard. Thorin however, was a cooler, colder and more calculated dwarf then his father, who was an irresistible grinner with that little spark of insanity always hovering under his touch to set him going. That little push towards a fit of insanity Farvo knew his father possessed and buried deep beneath him. 

Then, in a way that wasn’t entirely surprising to Farvo, Frerin spread his arms and burst out in that godforsaken grin that seemed to be a mockery to the world. “Come on.” Frerin said in a nonchalant tone and kept his grin wide. Farvo hadn’t expected anything to come from it, yet much to his surprise the other dwarf also burst out in a similar mockery of the world grin and took the one step closer to Frerin to hug him tightly. His father started laughing. 

That was the queue for Donnar and Garod to let go of Dis. The other two guards still holding on to her stumbled as she moved towards the two dwarves, but let her go. And she went over to them and joined their hug with a sob, ignoring all the startled looks around them. 

Skoya stood there with her eyebrows raised, looking at Frerin in such a manner that Farvo didn’t want to be him in the evening when he’d have to explain the whole ordeal. Instead Skoya sighed and laid the case to rest. Instead she walked over to Farvo with a slight wobble in her step. As she got closer, he saw that she was flushed, as she had been getting for the past few weeks now when her pregnancy was nearing it’s end. 

“Mum what’s going on?” Farvo asked her on a hesitating tone. Skoya sighed heavily and shook her head, one hand under her belly and the other behind her back. She looked as she was placing all the judgement of the dwarves alive. 

“I honestly have no clue hon,.” She said with a thoughtful pout as she looked at the hugging trio. “But I will tell you this, your father has a whole lot of explaining to do this evening, best you keep the kids busy outside a bit so I can give him a thrashing.” Farvo chuckled and smiled down to his mother. 

Thorin had stepped back, now letting Dis hug Frerin, who then just raised his arm and gestured at the pair of them. “Farvo!” He called out. “Cut the boy loose and let him go.” Farvo just grunted in response, but did walk over to Kili and pulled out his dagger, both of them exchanging expressions with each other that neither of them knew what was going on. “Beautiful come over here, I need to introduce you to some dwarves.” 

~*~

Frerin still had his hand on Dis shoulder as he gestured for Skoya to join them. Grinning widely. It was a bit hard to fanthom that he stood next to Dis and Thorin, two dwarves he honestly had thought he would never see again, despite having had the chance to ride and see them any day. He had never taken the chance. He had been dead to the world and he had wanted to keep it like that for as long as he lived during his second life. 

He had missed them, he wasn’t going to lie, Frerin truly had missed his brother and sister. But he had the complete freedom in his second life to do what he wanted. And he had known that if he had returned to his brother after those decades, after the battle that he would have to pick up the responsibilities he had left behind. A prince, sitting through hours of classes, war training and fighting the battles that would follow as his family lead the dwarves to a proper settlement. He fought now, and he didn’t think twice over the amount of people had killed. He had hated it when he was younger however, but that was because he had been nothing else but a child. 

He had just been a young dwarf, and the reasons to stay with the group had been more then those to find his family on his own. And then of course, he had met Skoya. Before he knew it he had been a family man. 

“This.” Frerin said with a wide smile as Skoya reached up to them and moved his arm around her to pull her close, giving her a kiss on the side of her head. “Is honestly, my better half. This is my wife Skoya. Skoya, these are my brother and sister. Thorin and Dis.” Frerin said proudly, almost blind to the luck that Skoya gave him before looking at the other Durin’s, though for them she put on a smile. 

“Hi.” Dis was the only one to speak, Thorin still stood beside them, speechless with a smile to his brother. He opened his mouth a few times, but never managed to make any words. Instead he just ruffled Frerin’s hair as if no time had ever passed in between them. Dis, still with tears in her eyes gestured over for a dwarf by the ponies. “Anor come here, Fili, Kili, you two as well.” 

“I really, didn’t know he was yours he never said anything about the like so we just-“ Frerin raised his shoulder as the oldest of the dwarves arrived, alongside with a blonde younger dwarf who couldn’t be much younger then Farvo. “Husband… eldest, youngest?” Frerin guessed and pointed from Anor, to Fili, and then to Kili. Dis nodded. 

“Anor.” The elder of the dwarves introduced himself and extended a hand, which Frerin shook. Skoya followed his example after that. Fili however seemed to hesitate about being friendly. And Frerin wouldn’t blame him for that. So he went ahead and gestured over Farvo, who joined them with a roll of his eyes alongside with Kili, who embraced Fili.

“This is my eldest Farvo, but you’ve already met. The little shit from yesterday was Cael, second. And fifth, two more are back home.” Frerin said and pointed down to Skoya’s stomach, only to have his hand smacked away by her. “You didn’t tell him who I was?” Frerin questioned Farvo. 

“Dad I didn’t even know you had siblings, you’ve never told us.” Farvo said, and the same expression Skoya had worn earlier returned while she looked up to her husband. 

“You didn’t tell him my name?” Frerin further questioned. 

“How would that have helped? You’re like the fifth Frerin I know you could have been anyone, contrary to your belief dad, you’re not that special.” Farvo responded with a snort, both Skoya, Thorin and Kili chuckled softly. 

“How did you… I mean, how are you still alive? You were dead.” Thorin broke in, once more grabbing a hold of Frerin as if to make sure if he was still real. Frerin raised his shoulders. 

“Tale for another time, later. Come back to the camp with us. Is that Dwalin?” Frerin only seemed to hear what Thorin said with half a heart and let go of Skoya, pushing his way in between Thorin and Dis and wandered over to Dwalin, who despite his stern expression and crossed arms, still started to grin as Frerin got closer. And then he embraced Frerin which was such a bizarre sight, for such a bear of a dwarf to hug some that much smaller, that much more smaller and slender of a dwarf. 

“Man Balin you got old. When did you go white?” Frerin asked with a loud chuckle. 

“When you died laddie.” Balin said, yet still had that very same gentle smile he had once had nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. 

~*~

Thorin looked around in the camp, stirring the bowl he had been given with only half a mind. He looked at his brothers kingdom, the one he could pack down and move wherever he wanted. It was a small one compared to the one that Thorin would have to lead once Erebor was up to it’s glory, but yet he thought that must have been just as hard to run. 

Yet, as a young dwarf he hadn’t thought that his brother had the ability to lead. He had always been too rash, to quick to act with much thought. It was always Frerin who returned home with a blackened eye and bruised knuckles. He had been good at rallying his friends, something that had been extremely handful when he had served his short time in the army. But he hadn’t been a leader. 

Though now it seemed like he had this tiny community under control. There was plenty of food, and it bothered Thorin to admit that there were more chunks of meat in the stew that he had been handed then Erebor could offer. His people looked healthy, they laughed as they went about their business, children were playing out in the open as if they had never had anything to worry about. The horses grazed, never straying far from their owners, there were more then enough tents for everyone to have cover at night. 

Cael was playing up ahead with some friends and Thorin just recognized one of the children that had been brought in to Erebor with him. Frerin’s twin children, the boy Beldo and the girl Ilna were playing amongst themselves near their brother with two dolls. Dis was enamoured by the youngest two, and when she wasn’t looking at her brother she was looking at them with a smile. 

“Can I ask… how? Now?” Thorin asked carefully and looked at Frerin, who had been eating his own stew as he had been sharing tale after tale about his children, who he seemed to see as the centre of his world. Truth to be told, Thorin hadn’t been able to stop him. 

“How?” Frerin repeated after a moment, looking at Thorin with a confused expression. “Oh, how I, am sitting here you mean?” Frerin pointed to his chest. Thorin nodded and Dis managed to tear her gaze away frm the twins. Dwalin slurped untactfully loudly but kept his gaze at the Durins. Dis husband sat down silently by Balin. 

Frerin took another spoonful of stew and shut himself up, looking down to the ground with the patches of grass as he thought through of how to explain. “They uh, they had me fighting down in by the mirrormere, we got overwhelmed. I had a bad gut feeling already before I even was out there. It was going to end bad, and it did.” He licked his lips. 

“They needed work force for down in their mines and dungeons Thorin, for down in their caverns and shit. They needed a work force so they took us down there, that’s where we all were.” Frerin said and raised his shoulders, he seemed fidgety, as if he didn’t want to go further. And it was Dwalin, who showed a further level of lack of tact. 

“Work force?” Dwalin asked. 

“Yes work force, fix all the freaking bridges of them and make their weapons better, shit like that, fight for entertainment. Don’t want to talk about that. We’re all from there, so, we did what we could. We got lucky one day, so we fought our way out.” 

“Frerin you couldn’t have been down there, we won. We won that battle.” Thorin told him gently. 

“And they retreated down into the tunnels that you guys sealed off before fucking off, where the fuck do you think we were for all those years huh?” Frerin snapped, raising his voice just enough so the twins looked over to him. He shut his eyes, taking a deep breath when he composed himself though his grip still clutched the bowl. 

“So we’ve been wandering all over ever since. Going wherever we please, doing whatever we please. It’s worked out just fine for us.” Frerin shrugged, putting down the bowl in the ground. 

“Why didn’t you come back to us Frerin? When you came back above ground, why didn’t you come looking for us? Why didn’t you come home?” Dis asked quietly. “We thought you were dead, but you were alive all this time and kept wandering. Why didn’t you come back?” 

For a moment, Thorin thought that Frerin would get another outburst, but their brother just snickered. 

“Come back to what Dis? I was forty-four when I died so to speak, I was seventy-five when I surfaced again. Over thirty year I spent in the damp darkness with these dwarves. And when i realised I had the freedom to go back, I decided that I didn’t want to. I missed you, I truly did miss you all. But there was nothing in coming back to the Durin’s for me. For what? Joining a family that would have driven me back to war? I’m sorry but I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to go back to classes and people and the weight of a freaking dragon having taken away a legacy that would never have been mine anyway. I love you Thorin, but you would have led the people through more battles, and you did, didn’t you?”

Thorin gave a guilty nod. 

“I didn’t want to fight anymore then. Don’t take me wrong. I’ve fought plenty again ever since, but then I met my wife, and then we got a family. We made a family, we have friends here, and for once I truly felt like I was where I belonged. And then I became their King. And now here I am. So no, I didn’t return to you. It’s entirely selfish, I know. But I’m not sorry for it. I didn’t want to come back because you would have made me fight again, and I hate our father and our grandfather for making us fight when we were children.” 

“You’re exaggerating Frerin, we weren’t that young.” Thorin said, feeling how Dis squeezed his arm. Frerin just glared at him. 

“Not that young? Let me tell you something. Look at my son, look at Cael.” Frerin said and pointed over to Cael. “He is older now, then I was when we fought at Azalnulbizar. Would you let him fight a battle like that?” 

Thorin didn’t answer. Frerin didn’t say anything either for the longest of time. 

“Nearly all of us, were young when the goblins and orcs got us. Once we had the freedom to live a life, we didn’t want to go back to the life that had landed us in that position in the first place. And we wanted to sleep under an open sky, after for so long hearing nothing but the echo of rock. So we wandered, first at foot, then by pony, then by horse, the horses lasted longer then the ponies, and here we are.” Frerin raised his shoulders, still looking at his three playing children. 

~*~

“To be honest it’s rather exciting isn’t it?” Farvo said with practically a skip in his step. Kili chuckled a little bit, though Fili was less amused then his little brother. Instead he just watched the two converse as if they were the best friends. “I mean, I’ve never had any cousins, my mom doesn’t have any family here. And then the luck of cousins my own age to, at least, I think so?” Farvo looked at Kili with a questioning look. 

“Seventy-eight by now.” Kili then pointed to Fili. “Eighty-two.” 

“Ah, close, ninety-two.” Farvo grinned to Fili. “Sorry about the whole running of with Kili thing, I was just doing as I was told really. So… no hard feelings?” Farvo extended his hand to Fili, though he hesitated a little bit before shaking it. 

“Well, maybe a little bit hard feelings, just for the time being. Though I guess we’re even. We did have your brother.” Fili took Farvo’s hand and shook it, glad to find out that the other dwarf had a solid handshake. 

“Well, as much as I love him, you could have kept him. I say that with as much fondness for the rascal as I can muster.” Farvo placed a hand on his chest. Kili snorted and rolled up his sleeve. 

“This is a gift from him, two days old and it still looks as if I just broke my arm.” Kili showed the bruise to Farvo, who whistled when he saw it. “He bit me, hoping I’d let him go.” 

“He banged at a door throughout the entire night, drove Dwalin who was guarding him into insanity. Is he always like that?” Fili questioned Farvo, who sighed heavily. 

“He is, he’s one of those, don’t know what you guys call them. Those dwarves who…” Farvo started gesturing with his hand. “Those who never lose their energy. Who are completely utterly uncontrollable unless they have something to put all that focus to you know?” 

“I’ve heard of them.” Fili said, and somehow he wasn’t surprised the slightest bit surprised at hearing that. 

“Yeesh, must be fun growing up next to him. No offense.” Kili said, making Farvo laugh, even Fili smiled a little bit. 

“What are you talking about? I practically did too, dad was convinced for the longest time that you were like that as well.” Fili teased, earning himself a small shove from Kili. 

“Anyway. I’d like to make up for kind of, threatening to stab you.” Farvo said and nodded to Kili. “Though, I’m not sure how I can do that if I’m going to honest, besides getting you guys drunk. Though it’s a tad bit to early for active drinking if you ask me. My head still isn’t quite right.” 

~*~

“So wait, wait, wait. You’re trying to tell me.” Frerin had started to get a hazy sort of look in his eyes, one that could only be induced by massive amounts of excessive drinking. He placed his hand on his chest and leaned over against the basket, elbow slipping into it so he ended up laying down instead of previously lounging against the pole. 

Frerin, the King of the wandering dwarves, was drunk. And her brother, Thorin Oakenshield, king of the Lonely Mountain, was just as bad. Her husband had just tried the drink that Frerin had offered them, but called it quits after just one drink after it nearly had burnt his throat out. After a sip herself, she was inclined to agree that it was a beverage made in a hell. 

“That you.” Frerin said, attempting to point at his brother but found that the basket was in the way. Skoya laughed a bit and patted her husband on his leg, which he didn’t seem to notice. “Took back that mountain, and evicted out a dragon. And you did that, just you, twelve other dwarves, a wizard who wasn’t even there, and a fucking hobbit?” Frerin asked with disbelief, squinting his eyes as he looked from Thorin, to Dwalin who either was asleep or in a coma from the liquor. 

Thorin nodded rather clumsily and just like his brother, placed his hand on his chest. “Didn’t think he could do it, but he did.” Thorin slurred, Frerin didn’t seem to have heard him and just kept mumbling to himself and Skoya about the hobbit. She gave Dis one quick look, which Dis only returned with an understanding one. 

“Thorin, Thorin look at me.” Dis leaned over Anor’s lap and swatted at Thorin’s leg, he turned to look at her, albeit rather confused. “We should go, it’s getting late and I doubt you’ll manage on your pony on your own.” 

“Quite agree, we’ve stayed long enough.” Balin bowed his head to Frerin, as if to excuse them. Frerin just placed his finger on his lips and attempted to hush Balin. They had been sat around the fire ever since they had been offered the meal, and after that the drink had come. Dis had quite enjoyed catching up with Frerin, even if he started to get drunker by every mug. But now it was starting to get dark, and she didn’t want to ride back in the darkness either with two very drunk dwarves either. 

And only Mahal knew where Fili and Kili had wandered off to. They had wandered by them a few times with Farvo, but the last time they had passed by Farvo had announced to them that they were going to go over to the tent of his friend to play a game. And Dis had a suspicion that this game had also contained the same drink that her brothers were drinking now and that had caused the hangover of her youngest son the night before. 

“Oh you can stay here.” Skoya interjected, to which Frerin loudly agreed. 

“Yes! Yes perfect idea, stay here, and, and.” Frerin lost track of his words. “We’ll fetch you a tent and uhh, tomorrow we’ll all, and uhh, pack up our stuff and follow you back. We’ll camp there for a bit, cause this barrel isn’t empty, and I mean. We still kind of need the gold so, we’ll have to figure something out.” Frerin started waving with his hand as he once more tried to get some support of the basket, but just kept making it roll over. 

“Huh? Gold?” Thorin seemed to perk up and watched Frerin, having been quite mesmerised by the fire. 

“Yes well, we still kind of need the gold because we took her son and well.” Frerin pointed over to Dis, taking another sip of his mug. “And that’s besides the point now I mean water under the bridge or whatever the fuck it’s called but, you see, we still kind of need the gold and all because-“ 

“Frerin that’s enough, we’ll talk about that in the morning, for now you’ve had to much, and you’re going to bed.” Skoya interrupted and took his mug away from him. Frerin whined a bit in protest, but accepted his defeat nonetheless as she started to pull him up. 

“Shit man, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, the lady has spoken and I shall not mention it anymore. A King is nothing without his Queen you should get a Queen.” Frerin pointed out to Thorin as he now was in a seating position and wrapped his arms around Skoya. “See this lady here? She’s mine, I love her, I really do, she’s amazing, lord knows what I’d do without her. Keep drinking I suppose.” Frerin snickered and attempted to stand up with Skoya’s help. Anor, came to the rescue to help the pregnant Lady as Frerin nearly missed a step and ended up in their little fire. 

“Just point the direction ma’am.” Anor said with a small smile barely visible under his beard as he got Frerin’s rather loose arm around his shoulders, having to hunch down quite a bit so Frerin wasn’t entirely lifted of his feet. 

“Oh thank you.” Skoya said with a grateful smile and pointed down in between some tents. “He’ll know it he always does, uhm.” She turned to Dis, Thorin, Dwalin and Balin, who had now stood up as well. “Sorry about that, uh, come with me and I’ll get you guys a tent and we’ll talk about the rest tomorrow. Guys!” Skoya turned to shout at some dwarves a few tents further up. “Come help us get our guests to a tent, or at least… the big one?” Skoya asked as she watched Dis help Thorin up to his feet. 

Frerin’s singing voice was heard through the tents further down, slowly fading into the noise of the dwarves.


End file.
